WEDNESDAY COLUMN BY USSIJU MEDANER
info@medaner.com, justme4justice@yahoo.com
In as much as the Nigerian situational outlooks on a number of decisive and critical fronts look technically and existentially disturbing and require actions beyond the ordinary and the regular to effect pragmatic changes, Nigerians responses have up till now, been more cosmetic and largely, a concoction of emotional appeals to one or a combination of religious, ethnic, regional or group affiliations. In summary, fixations on gross bigotry, expending all energies on frivolities, consummating all our capacities both individually and collectively as competing groups, on matters that either generate more challenges for the country, or keep breaking us farther away from humanity.
In all very serious nations with regard to real development consciousness, individual and group resources are allocated effectively to resolve challenges and build sustainable development for their people. The power of agreement is easily seen and regardless of unavoidable differences, national growth and development are always indubitable. It is obvious there is no single nation globally without inbuilt line, if not lines of differences; the United States of America is embroiled with passionate and most times violent political division, the Democrats and the Republicans are always on each other’s jugular and their political campaigns can become bloody in some ways, yet, no party would survive spending yearlong and every opportunity weaponising religion, colour and other toxic factors that would delineate the Americans to win elections. While these may be indirectly factored into the winning strategy, the American people are largely wooed only on the strength of political parties and actors’ analyses of their projected programs and manifestos that could improve both the standards of living of the American people and the reputation of their nation globally. Political discussions are purely issue-based and the Americans would eventually take side on the strength of the same.
Here in Nigeria, we become so comfortable reducing critical election campaigns at a time our country needs to go beyond cosmetic responses to issues, to full blown discussions of the age and religion of candidates. Even when we know the truth and the reality of the age and religious issue, we would rather set the national space on the tone of such irrelevances as how old a candidate is and force a continuous discussion on age and religion in order to win election. We know the rhetoric and propaganda around the age controversy are false, yet we are satisfied encumbering the public with it to distract attention from the critical and real issues that should saturate the electioneering campaign to the benefit of the country.
In 2015 and again in 2019, we allowed ourselves to be deceived into a distraction of PDP which relentlessly touted the APC and Muhammadu Buhari islamisation and Fulanisation agenda, across the states and in all streets, allowing undeserving politicians access to political offices on the back of sensational campaigns; and today, we complain and cry of underperformances of politicians when we had no right to. We have only been served what we deserved, the consequences of the choices we made. Then, instead of forcing PDP to tell Nigerians what they had in stock for the country, we allowed them to take us on a cruise of emotional discussion of tribal, religious and unsubstantiated health status of the APC candidate. we rob ourselves of the right to good leadership across the states and the legislature; and yet, we have not learnt our lessons; yet as 2023 approaches, we have taken the same unproductive route again.
What is in vogue in Nigeria months to a critical election are age and religious debates; at a time when robust discussion of political parties and their candidates’ manifestos should be the order of the season. Both PDP and the Labour Party have successfully reduced Nigerians to an assembly of unfocused people who do not know what they really want; a people who are driven by sensational appeals to non-benefiting discussions, at a time their country begs for rapid and coherent response to economic and security challenges.
On the issue of the projected and propagated age issue of the presidential candidate of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the leaders of both parties know the very reality of his age; they know that his age as presented to INEC is the real and true age, to the effect that it has been consistent to his submission for political engagements since 1992. They all know that in 1992, when he submitted his information to the then electoral empire to contest election to the national legislature, his age was 41 years. Six years after, when he contested to become the governor of Lagos State, the age was 47 years. There wasn’t any dispute, neither as regards the age or any other seen discrepancy. So what suddenly change in 2022? Shouldn’t a man who was 47 years in 1999 be 69 years old today? Or is there any other method of deciphering age that is unique to PDP and the Labour party? This is unfair, not only to APC or its candidate, but largely to Nigeria and Nigerians who truly deserve quality electoral process at this material time.
They have energised all machineries to force electioneering campaign messages towards the choice of a Muslim vice-president from the North by the candidate of APC; an attempt to appeal to religious fixation mentality of a section of the country. They have the Christian clergymen, most especially the politically biased CAN, spearheading their campaigns, and cajoling members to join the train to gang up against what they have termed ‘islamisation agenda.’
Yet, these are the same people, who months ago were bent on making a Southerner the president of Nigeria; they have threatened all political parties to field a Southerner or face their wrath. Now, the table is set; PDP has damned them all, told them to their faces that there is no single candidate in the whole South who is capable of winning the election for the party and went ahead to pick another Fulani from the North! Weeks after, they weren’t against PDP, in fact, they accepted the logic and were fully with the decision of the party, already on the road working for the FULANI man, forgetting their hatred for Fulani and that PDP cannot be wrong.
But APC that went ahead and saw a viable candidate from the South but have to follow the same PDP logic to pick a Muslim VP from the North has committed an error that cannot be forgiven. Now, CAN would not have it, though they would soon roll out support for PDP’s Atiku. They wouldn’t accept their claims of the islamisation agenda of Nigeria but they are comfortable with the same in several states across the country that enjoy an all-Christian governors and deputy governors. PDP and its presidential candidate would easily forget the past to stand against a Muslim-Muslim ticket today; yet, the same Atiku Abubakar fought so well to be the vice president to Abiola in 1992 and had not at any other time opposed the same openly.
They want to preach religion so vehemently against the candidacy of Tinubu and Shettima. But, one, they would not want the mention of Tinubu’s wife factor; they would rather that the fact that she is one of them on the pulpit is not mentioned. Two, as they praise Peter Obi on their altars, they would closed their eyes to the fact that the man is a religious bigot, with much more tendencies to destabilise the country along religious line, or perhaps they are happy and comfortable with his treatment of all other Christian faiths beside the Catholic that he belongs to, while he was the governor of Anambra; and of course, his demolition of mosques in the state without remorse or compensation. The same people would prefer to ignore the goodwill of Kashim Shettima to the Christian family in Borno state while he was the governor of the state; including how he rebuilt 56 churches that were destroyed by Boko Haram in the state.
These people want to preach self-serving framed messages; as they are bent on appealing to nothing but the emotion of the electorate and drawing them out to an undeserving support. They would pull down the roof to establish the lies they tell about a candidate’s age, health condition, religion and whatever, while they, at the same time, would keep mum over the atrocities of their principals. They would ignore the fact that their Peter Obi is an ethnic bigot who didn’t hide his hatred for other tribes during his administration in Anambra State. They would choose to forget how he brazenly asked a visiting Northerner in a public function to tell their people to stop killing the Igbos in the North as a response to the killings and destruction of properties of some Hausa men in Anambra state.
They would also keep mum on the underperformance of his administration as a governor nor the recorded corruption tailing his administration and person; the thirteen months medical doctors’ strike during his tenure, the six months of Anambra state University lecturers’ strike during his tenure, seven years of unpaid salaries to the staffs of the state water board workers, the direct use of the now SARS to terrorise the state under his watch, investing state resources in personal businesses against the law of the land. Neither would they ever want the Pandora papers allegation to be visited, or want Nigerians to talk about his investigation for N259 billion fraud by EFCC.
This is another election cycle, at the federal level and across the states. The leaders we will get in 2023 would all depend on the messages we allow the politicians to preach to us as they woo all of us for our votes. We must all rise and say no to non-developmental campaign issues and force all politicians and political parties to concentrate their energy on areas that would develop our nation.
GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA!
